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Weekly Story: We Can Soar Higher

On the airplane, Reb Nissan Nemenov realized that it was smaller than the previous plane he flew on. So he asked the person who was flying with him, “What is the difference between this plane and the other ones we were on?” The person replied, “This is a Jet, which by design it is smaller, in order that it can go faster and higher than its predecessors.”

Weekly Letter: Bris Milah for the Health Benefits?

This week, as we read about the first Bris in Parshas Lech Lecha, we present a letter from the Rebbe in which he remarks on presenting mitzvos such as bris milah and others “as prescriptions for good health or hygiene.” The letter, written originally in English, is from the archives of the Rebbe’s personal trusted secretary, Rabbi Nissan Mindel.

Next Generation of Bluegrass Rabbis Comes of Age in Kentucky

Much has changed in the last three decades for the Jewish community in Kentucky, as the Litvin family has spread their roots in a community they are proud to call home. Even after all this time, new developments are in the works. Take, for instance, a Jewish Learning Center that opens this week, which under its wide umbrella will offer adult-education classes throughout the year for working professionals, parents, retirees—for anyone who wants to further their Jewish knowledge.

Video: I Have Ulcerative Colitis, Let’s Talk

Comedian Mendy Pellin engages in some bathroom talk to reveal a little-known condition he has called Ulcerative Colitis. He invites the community to an event he will headline later this month in Crown Heights, which he hopes will raise awareness of this condition among members of the Orthodox-Jewish community.

Picture of the Day: Sinai Scholars

Rabbi Yudi Steiner, director of Chabad on Campus at George Washington University, delivers a lesson to dozens of students titled “Love Matters” as part of the Sinai Scholars project. Rabbi Steiner and many of these students, along with hundreds of others from all over the country, will be arriving in Crown Heights tonight and tomorrow for the annual ‘JewFest’ Chabad on Campus Shabbaton.

Video: Who Stole the Tefilin?

A Chosid in Williamsburg recently arrived in Shul one morning to find that his Tefilin had gone missing. Suspecting that they may have been stolen, he obtained the footage from the Shul’s surveillance camera, and was surprised to discover the culprit.

Teen Who ‘Could Barely Walk’ Preps for Marathon

Imagine being 13 years old, in eighth grade, and every step you took brought intense pain. That was Nathan Bojan’s life. A trip to an orthopedist and the Bojans had an answer: Nathan had a condition called Tarsal Coalition—the abnormal connection of two bones in the foot. Where people normally have tissue between bone, Nathan had none. Each step was agony.

Op-Ed: Chabad Gave Me My Jewish Confidence

Before enrolling at U.C. Santa Cruz, Amanda Botfeld, a Reform Jew from Santa Monica, had never heard of Chabad. “I avoided Jewish spaces in part because I never felt like my level of Jewishness was ‘enough.’ Jewish community events are often intended to reaffirm your standing as an insider; I usually left feeling more like an outsider,” she wrote in an op-ed published by JWeekly. “But Chabad was different.”

Crown Heights Politicians Bicker Over Armory’s Future

Elected officials representing the rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights have waded into the growing fight over the redevelopment of the city-owned Bedford-Union Armory. The fight has pitted US congresswoman Yvette Clarke, state senator Jesse Hamilton, state assemblyman Walter Mosley and state assemblywoman Diana Richardson against New York City Council Member Laurie Cumbo.